ARB acts to further reduce emissions at high-risk railyards

New commitments on diesel soot set stringent limits on total emissions, and cut health risks in half

SACRAMENTO - The Air Resources
Board today acted on a staff proposal to further
slash toxic diesel emissions originating from four of the highest
polluting railyards in the state.

The four railyards, all located in Southern California, are BNSF San
Bernardino, BNSF Hobart and UP Commerce (City of Commerce) and the UP
Intermodal Container Transfer Facility/Dolores (Long Beach).
Over the past five years, ARB and federal regulations and agreements
have resulted in cutting emissions at the four railyards in
half. The Board’s actions today will build on those
reductions.

“Once again the Air Resources Board is leading the nation, taking
aggressive action to characterize and reduce the health risks from
diesel engines used in freight operations throughout our state,” said
ARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols. "We recognize the importance of
rail in moving freight throughout California and in most of the nation,
while pushing the railroads to take responsibility for the
disproportionate pollution their operations cause to the communities
adjacent to their facilities.”

Diesel exhaust contains a variety of harmful gases and more than 40
other known cancer-causing compounds. In 1998, California identified
diesel particulate matter as a toxic air contaminant based on its
potential to cause cancer, premature death and other significant health
problems.

The Board also indicated its intent to work with other agencies, local
governments, stakeholders, and the railroads to identify and implement
additional actions that can be taken both inside and outside the
railyards.

The Board directed ARB staff to consider several additional items
related to the proposed commitments by the railroads. These include:
responding in writing to environmental issues raised by the public;
considering the use of an independent third party auditor to assess
implementation progress; focusing efforts on the development of new
locomotives and zero and near-zero emissions technology; allowing
affected communities to enforce ARB’s commitments if they are not
carried out; ensuring data can be easily accessed and delivered in a
user-friendly format; and considering the addition of a commitment by
the railroads against any backsliding on progress to date.

The commitments the Board endorsed build on the existing regulations
and agreements cutting emissions in 2015 by another 10 to 20 percent,
and 2020 emissions by another 30 to 50 percent. Because of a hard cap
placed on emissions under the commitments, total emissions at the San
Bernardino railyard, for example, will be 3.4 tons a year instead of
seven tons in 2020. Health risks will similarly be reduced an
additional 50 percent under the commitments.

As a result of a previous agreement with the railroads in 1998,
Southern California is now home to the cleanest fleet of locomotives in
the nation. A later agreement with the railroads in 2005,
along with other steps ARB took, succeeded in slashing emissions by
half over the past five years.

The Board’s actions today establish a process that continues this
approach, effectively reducing maximum individual cancer risks from a
projected rate of 2,500 per million for those living closest to the
railyards to 400 per million in 2020. A forward-looking
provision in the commitment requires that potential new cost-effective
technologies that could further reduce health risks at these four
railyards in the future be assessed in 2018.

The commitments were crafted in consultation with BNSF Railway and
Union Pacific Railroad, as well as other stakeholders, and focus on the
four railyards with the highest emissions and risk to nearby
communities.

Combined, the four railyards handle about 75 percent of containers and
rail-related truck traffic in California. In 2005, each of
these four railyards generated on average about 20 tons per year of
diesel soot. By 2020, and irrespective of future rates of
growth, the combination of existing measures and the new agreement
reduces average diesel emissions per yard to about 3 tons per year.

For the four high-risk railyards, these commitments will:

Establish a hard cap that requires
emissions to decline according to a specified schedule;

Require a 10 - 20 percent larger
reduction than would occur by 2015 if only existing measures were used,
and about a 30 50 percent larger reduction by
2020;

Ensure that emissions will continue to
decline regardless of growth or increased activity;

Establish a schedule for ARB to
routinely prepare estimates of future health risks at each high
priority railyard through 2020;

Provide for independent ARB
verification of railyard activity to ensure that all obligations are
met;

Lead to ARB installation and operation
of a new air quality monitor in the community near the San Bernardino
railyard and another near the Commerce/Hobart railyards;

Trigger specific and prompt actions by
ARB if the emission reductions are not achieved; and,

Create a process for ongoing public
participation for the duration of the commitments.

The ARB’s list of proposed railyard commitments complements ARB’s
extensive work to reduce diesel emissions from a wide variety of
sources that affect railyard-adjacent communities. More
information about the commitments can be found on ARB’s website at:

The ARB has already adopted measures for port trucks, cargo handling
equipment, transport refrigeration units and cleaner fuel for
intrastate and interstate locomotives that are already showing major
air quality benefits near railyards and throughout the state.
These and other regulations are the outcome of the Board’s adoption in
2000 of the landmark Diesel Risk Reduction Plan, an ambitious effort to
reduce toxic emissions from diesel sources throughout the
state.

ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.